Chapter 5: The Wine Cooked Theory of Heroes (3)

  At the time when Tian Jiao was entangled with Ma Benchi, her pager rang twice again. However, she pretended not to hear it. Ma Benchi whispered in her ear, "Sister, there are quite a few people chasing you!" "Not many, only one reinforced company." Tian Jiao also said softly.

  "Great leader, great scholar, great author, great secretary, please drink up this cup of wine!" Ma Benzheng rushed to the front, pretending to be extremely respectful, and brought a burst of laughter from the crowd.

  "Ma Ju, I don't have a good capacity for liquor, can't drink this much."

  "What words, you literati can all drink. Li Bai wrote a hundred poems after drinking wine, and only after drinking some wine can one write articles with inspiration."

  He smiled naturally and raised his wine cup to drink it all in one gulp.

  When he came in front of Tian Road, Ma Benqi no longer poured wine, but instead picked up the standard cup from before and said: "Big brother, you drank this cup dry."

  The sky is overcast with a gloomy color, yet he stammers and can't say a word.

  "Hey, men are like this: when they die, they die with style. When they live, they live with style. I don't believe you can't finish this cup of wine."

  "I, I..."

  "Big brother, we can't afford to be thin on meat but not on bones. Wine is the essence of grain, what's a little wine?"

  "Ma Ju, Ma Ju, I really can't drink anymore." Tian Lu felt like he was at a dead end.

  "With Tianjiao here, I won't bully you. I've heard that civilized people become barbarians after drinking, and professors become beasts when they're drunk. Come on, let's split it 50/50 and clink glasses."

  The road to heaven is blocked, so I'll just have to drink a cup of wine instead.

  Tianran thought for a moment and estimated that Ma Ben had drunk more than half a catty. He said, "Ma Bureau is indeed a good drinker."

  "When you meet a kindred spirit, a thousand cups are not enough. Besides, I'm still the captain of this ship with three thousand nails, and a camel that's starved to death is bigger than a horse." Ma Benzheng was also quite arrogant. He offered another round of cigarettes, lit one himself, and blew out an S-shaped smoke ring. He told the waiter, "Change the tea leaves in the teapot and brew some new tea for our guests."

  At this time, the "pager" in front of Ma Benzheng rang. He picked up the brick and said unpleasantly: "Huh, huh, didn't I tell you not to bother me? Isn't it the main leader of the city who asked for me to say that I went to the countryside? Oh, oh, is it still that old man who came to petition? Didn't I say that this person is a stubborn household, absolutely cannot be tolerated, and must take measures when necessary." He slammed the brick on the table with a "bang" and said: "Annoying to death."

  "How far have we gotten?" he asked Tian Biao beside him.

  "You just spilled wine."

  "This is Tianran who stood up and said: 'Director Ma is always busy, we wanted to invite him but couldn't. Today, for the sake of our Tianbiao's matter, he is so kind-hearted, it makes us feel very grateful in our hearts. Next, I represent my four siblings to borrow flowers to worship Buddha, and offer Director Ma a few cups of wine.'"

  Several people from the Wu family all chimed in saying it was right, absolutely right.

  Ma Benzheng said: "Saying this is too presumptuous, Tian Biao's affairs are my affairs. From now on, the matters of you Wu siblings will also be my affairs. No need to toast me, that's the rule, wine doesn't climb east. Can we have some fun below?"

  "What are you playing? Guessing cards, flipping cards or fighting landlords?" Tian Jiao asked.

  "I'm a waist-hanging plaque, I can play whatever comes. However, I'm happy today, for Tian Biao's sake, and for me to know several good brothers and sisters again. I've gone all out, I guess it's worth the circle."

  Speaking of guessing cups, a brief introduction is needed. Because Shanyang City is a famous wine town, and guessing cups is the main way to drink wine.

  In Shanyang, people don't often drink wine that's too strong. When they do, it's usually to play a game of guessing numbers while drinking, which is called "guessing the number" or "technical eating". The rules seem simple: two people take turns shouting out numbers and extending their fingers, with the total number of fingers on both hands added together. Whoever guesses the correct number wins, and the loser has to drink as a penalty.

  However, beginners can easily make mistakes, such as guessing eight but extending only two fingers. This is called "losing the number", because no matter what the opponent shouts or how many fingers they extend, you won't win.

  So when people first learn to guess numbers, they usually start with a fixed number, "five", which is safe and won't result in losing the number. There are two basic methods of guessing numbers: "flower number" and "fixed number". The flower number method involves shouting out any number from zero to ten, while the fixed number method involves shouting out specific numbers, such as six or zero, one or seven, two or eight, three or nine, or four or ten.

  Shanyang people have a long history of guessing numbers, and their methods are intricate and complex. Outsiders often find it difficult to keep up, so they say that Shanyang people have a "number spectrum". However, Shanyang people's guessing number game is actually very polite: if the first person to lose is the opponent, then you won't be forced to drink.

  This has become a well-known phrase in the entire Central Plains region, and as people interact more with each other, it has also become a famous saying in many places throughout China. There's another rule that when there are eight cups on the table and one side has already drunk six cups, the remaining two cups will be left untouched by the other side, who will instead proactively pick them up and drink them away. This is called "friendship first".

  Guessing numbers requires both sides to have a consistent rhythm, firm fingers, and clear pronunciation. If someone's fingers are soft or their pronunciation is unclear, or if they shout out the number too late, then it's considered "water number" or "late number", which is looked down upon in the drinking scene.

  Good guessers must have skilled finger movements, jumping up and down like a pianist playing on the keys. Their shouting voices must also be loud and clear, with phrases such as "precious egg", "definitely rising", "good brothers", "three peach garden", "four seasons blooming", "five chariots first", "six six smooth", "seven clever diagrams", "eight horses", "nine quick passes", or "whole family fortune".

  The atmosphere of guessing numbers is also very heroic, with good guessers always trying to break through the circle. This is called "breaking through the pass". A table of eight people counts as one round, with eight cups of wine making up one string. Each person must guess at least three strings, and after one round, several bottles of wine will be overturned, but the players will still remain calm and composed.

  The sense of accomplishment from this is not inferior to Liu Xiang winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

  It seems that Ma Benzheng dared to propose guessing the number of coins at this time, which requires both courage and skill. At a banquet, if someone proposes guessing the number of coins, others cannot have any objections. Unless you want to break through yourself, but do you have the strength to do so?

  Ma Benzheng stretched out his finger, and Tian Biao had no choice but to respond. He used Huashan's "Six Zero Cannon" to counter Ma Benzheng's "Dingmen". Although Tian Biao's card skills were not bad, after three rounds, he drank 16 of the 24 cups of wine. Ma Benzheng said: "Haha, neither of us lost. I won the cards, and you won the wine."

  Tian Jiao went on stage and said to Ma Benzheng: "I won't guess. You go ahead."

  Ma Benqi said, "That's not okay. Rather than being separated by a table, we won't be separated by a single person. We can't guess the number of treasures, so let's take them out and see if there are any." He then twisted off the filter tip of a cigarette and said, "Sister, who will go first?"